The Skeleton Key
by Iseria Dweller
Summary: Written as part of my Nanowrimo challenge. Skeleton keys are meant to bypass every locked doors. A child from an abusive household gets a visit from a Keyblade Master and his apprentice.


**Skeleton Key**

_Whatever is done for love always occurs beyond good and evil. -Friedrich Nietzsche_

He was twelve years old all over again. His cobalt colored eyes opened up to the sight of a once white ceiling, with its paint peeling away from the filthy surface. This was his God forsaken home, alright. It took a good twenty minutes or so before his consciousness returned to his battered and bruised body completely. Along with his new found wakefulness came the expected daily dosage of pain.

Eraqus sat up slowly with a hand over his mouth, stifling a cry of agony. There was no need to wake his damn, pathetic excuse for a father up. It was seven in the morning and he had fallen asleep fully dressed again.

In fact, he couldn't remember falling asleep at all. What he did remembered was that his father had threatened to beat the shit out of Leia for breaking a bottle of beer when she was assisting their sickly mother to dust the kitchen cupboard, that early morning.

Eraqus had jumped in between his crazed father, shielding his sister and his mother from the mad man as he railed on the nine year old.

This wasn't the first time such a thing had happened in the household. His father had always been abusive to him, his sister and his mother.

There was one time in which his father had delivered a fatal blow to his four year old sister for no reason at all. Eraqus vaguely remembered hugging Tabitha and Leia before leaving for school that day. He returned to find the four year old on the floor, bleeding profusely from her head. Leia's arms were jutting out from odd angles and if she was in pain, she didn't seem to acknowledge it for she had been busy, crying on Tabitha's still form. He was nine years old back then.

The cops had came for that sick son of a bitch that night but by some stroke of ill luck, he had somehow faked up a hell of a good behavior and was released from jail early.

One week into his early prison bail, that bastard started his old acts up again. The thing that puzzled him was that his mother would always forgive his father and would even go as far as to lecture him about how his father was simply trying to support them all.

Eraqus wished that there was some other ways to knock some sense into his mother's head. He knew that if he continued to stay under one roof with his father, chances are, he would probably never made it to his thirteenth birthday.

His father had probably used the broken beer bottle in an attempt to stab him. Thankfully, his father's moves were quite predictable and he had managed to get his mother and sister out of the house at one point of time during the brawl.

He remembered hitting his head hard, against the cabinet which held a number of glass table wares before his dad stomped out of the house. He'd probably crawled up to his room on his hands and knees, to pass out not long after that.

With great agony, Eraqus managed to push himself off the thin, run down mattress which served as his bed. Using the thin pieces of cloth which served as his blanket, he attempted to stop the bleeding on his head by applying some pressure to it. A sharp pain shot through his nerves and it wasn't just from the wound alone.

_Great, there must be a shard of glass in my head. Wonderful_. Eraqus staggered up.

That was when he remembered about Leia and his mother.

The young boy managed to crawl all the way to the living room downstairs, where the phone was being kept at.

_Wow, I look just like that drunken bastard known as my father._ Eraqus humorlessly chuckled as he clumsily grabbed the communication device.

There was no dial tone.

It was dead and that was because his parents didn't pay the bills again.

"…Again." That meant that he had to walk all the way to Aunt Fortuna's house.

Aunt Fortuna was the mother of one of his most trusted classmates, Carmina. Carmina had told him that if his father were to ever start his rampage again, he could take refuge in her house along with his sister and mother.

Both Aunt Fortuna and Carmina live 2 blocks away from his house.

It wasn't that far. It would take a normal person 10 minutes to reach the cozy little house by foot.

To someone who had just survived beatings from a mad man, it felt like eternity before the orange bricked house came into his line of sight.

With every step he took, he painted a part of the pavement in a foul shade of copper red with his blood.

He knew that if he didn't get any medical treatment soon, he would probably die bleeding from the rapid loss of blood. He was already shivering as his body temperature climbed in an attempt to fight the infection in his body.

Sometimes, he wondered how in the world he could even make it this far without meeting his maker.

_I really do have the luck of a devil._ Eraqus chuckled to himself before coughing out a handful of blood onto the doorsteps of dear sweet Aunt Fortuna.

The person who answered the door was not Aunt Fortuna, nor was it Carmina.

Instead, it was an elderly man, dressed in blue robes.

Eraqus didn't really get a good view of what this person was like, darkness consumed his field of vision once again and he found himself dreaming of a vast, black ocean. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that this ocean was not filled with water, but it was filled with a sea of corpses, each of them in various stages of decomposition.

Against all laws of nature, the corpses rose, reaching their half rotting limbs towards the twelve year old. The boy cringed, a look of visible horror evidently painted across his face as he plummeted through the chilly darkness.

His hand flew out, attempting to grab hold of anything, desperate to put his descend to a total halt. Thin air rushed through his fingers and at long last, his body lay amongst many forms of ill.

It was a horrible, grotesque experience. Hands and legs flew towards him. The newly deceased who were able to master a tiny form of speech, hissed and moaned at him, no longer possessing any form of intelligence.

Eraqus was surrounded and he knew that if he couldn't find a way out of this hell hole, he would most likely become one of these desperate beings. His stomach was starting to turn as he struggled and fought against the scaly, moist flesh, pressed against him.

_It is useless, boy. _

_We were like you, once._

_Darkness is the only place where we can truly rest in peace._

_Join us._

_In here, pain and time does not exist. _

_It's perfect here. _

_No one can hurt you here. _

_No one cares about you in the outside world, do they? _

"I'd rather my dad smash my head against a wall and die in his hands, then rot in eternity in a shit hole like this!" He yelled.

_Suicides don't go to heaven._

_I was like that too._

_All we wanted was a gateway to heaven- _

_A better place –_

_Somewhere nicer-_

_This was all that we had, _

_You can be the key to that gate. _

Eraqus shut his eyes as the corpses pile on top of him. For every moving corpse he had thrown off him, ten more will take its place. It was futile and he knew it.

But if he had to die, he'd do it somewhere else.

This shit hole was never ever going to be his grave.

The corpses lunged at him, determined to _eat _him. One started eating at his shoulder length black hair, as if it was a rare delicacy. The other few were desperately attempting to savor the hidden flesh underneath his jacket.

Using every ounce of his strength, he threw them off him.

_How long can you continue to fight against us?_

_Strength comes in numbers._

_You can't keep this up._

_It's useless._

_Useless._

_Futile._

_Give it up. _

"Oy! You asshole! Don't you dare die on me like that!"

"We're losing him."

"Do something!"

Voices, ones that do not belong to this dank abyss.

A way out. A source of light.

Throwing his right hand out, he reached out into the endless darkness.

_Get me out of here…_ He pleaded, praying for a miracle.

Death wasn't an issue here but there was no way in hell he would die and leave his mother and sister.

He had already lost Tabitha and he wasn't planning on losing Leia and his mother to that drunken son of a bitch.

He had far too much close encounters with Death before and he had defied it a thousand times, but this had to be the most unpleasant encounter so far.

All of a sudden, his line of sight was blinded by a streak of white light. He felt the sticky, rotting bodies around him scramble away as well. There was hardly any room for any of them in this strange abyss and corpse had resorted to destroying half of their soft bodies in their sudden instinctive hurry to get away from him. The corpses squeezed against one another, causing a disgusting chain reaction akin to a stampede in a crowded sports stadium.

A comforting weight rested in the boy's outstretched hand. A key the length and size of a standard fencing sword was in his hand and his fingers had instinctively curled around the handle of the smooth metallic hilt. It was dull and grey, which was just fine. Had it been a bit more colorful, it would've looked ridiculously like a toy.

Despite its dull and simple appearance, there was an immense source of unexplainable powers radiating from the weapon.

Whatever it was, the very key was his only chance of survival in this hell hole.

Eraqus swung the key haphazardly to the left and the sharp edges of the weapon caught several corpses by their limbs. With a loud, unearthly screech, the corpses that had taken the hit, immediately sank to the black, dirt covered ground like a marionette without strings.

The affected corpses laid still and that was when Eraqus realized that this was the very key they were all waiting for, the key that would set these restless souls free to the afterlife they rightfully deserved.

If death was what they badly wanted, Eraqus was not going to deny them of it. It was either kill or be killed.

Apart from the kitchen knife and broken bottles, Eraqus had never handled a weapon in his whole entire life before. He knew how to survive in a fight, years of living with his abusive father had taught him that, but he had no idea how he would really fare in a real fight in which his opponents are trained fighters or in this case, hordes of rotting creatures.

A corpse clawed at his back, tearing through his sweater. As sharp skeletal nails racked through his skin, he felt a burning sensation as if he had been in contact with strong, undiluted acid. As quickly as the burning sensation came, an odd, woozy feeling washed over him. He was poisoned.

Half of the piles of rotting limbs were eager to die but there were a few good handfuls that refused to accept fate.

He had zero knowledge of fighting with a sword, much less with this odd weapon. Half the time, Eraqus was simply relying on blind luck, swinging the weapon around in random directions, hoping that it would hit a corpse or two.

His energy was running out fast and the oversized key was starting to feel extremely heavy in his hand.

_You're not done yet._

_Don't leave us here._

_We still need you._

_Free me!_

Eraqus was surrounded. If this had been a movie, he would've probably backed his entire body up against a wall with his weapon in front of him, but the corpses had him surrounded from all sides.

_Damnit…I'm not going to die in here, in this darkness…! _He thought to himself.

He could feel his heart hammering away in his chest.

_Any moment now and they'll come and turn me into one of them._ He told himself.

"If you die here, I'm never going to forgive you damnit!"

_Leia! _

That was it. Everything was just a dream. It had to be. There was no way such a ridiculous event could even occur!

"Come on! Fight it!"

_I'm trying…_

"I know you can do it!"

_What if I can't…?_

"If you go away just like Tabitha, I'm …"

_I understand…_

If he was going to die in a place like this, he wasn't going to make it easy for the creatures.

_Just trust the light in you..._

That voice didn't belong to anyone he knew but at the heat of the moment, that was the only voice he could trust.

And it came from within his weapon.

Shifting his posture, he shut his eyes and concentrated. He imagined a source of power streaming from the world outside the strange dark abyss. Time seemed to slow down as he envisioned a gentle stream of light flowing into him, into his weapon.

A corpse clawed at his back and several more were approaching him. He could smell the rotting stench.

He flinched slightly but refused to break hold of his concentration.

_You can do this…._

He was reminded of how those words would always spew out from Tabitha's mouth.

_I have to do this._ He thought to himself, a streak of determination flowing through his mind.

Opening his eyes, he dived towards a horde of corpses at blinding speed. Whirling around, he repeated the moves several times before regaining his balance at a corner. The corpses were still for a split second before their whole entire limbs fell apart, freeing them of any deranged life force.

Eraqus sank down to the floor, exhausted. He assumed that he had probably blacked out at that point.

When he had opened his eyes once again, he found a stranger talking to a nurse, not too far from the bed he was placed in. The sun was streaming through the window nearby and he was thankful for its heat. For a moment, he thought he would never get the chance to see the sun again.

Instinctively, he glanced at his empty hand.

_Of course it's empty. That whole entire thing was a near death experience, silly._ Eraqus reprimanded himself.

"You're finally awake." Leia's voice graced his ears.

"Mhh." He muttered. "What happened?"

"You fainted in front of Aunt Fortuna's doorsteps and you were losing far too much blood." Leia explained. "Carmina tried to stop the bleeding but you were suffering from several hemorrhages."

Eraqus groaned. That would mean that they had to cough up a huge sum of cash for the medical center's fees.

"However, Mr Yen Sid here had whole heartedly agreed to foot the bills!" Leia sounded extremely happy.

Eraqus couldn't recall a time where Leia had sounded….so darn free and happy.

Just who in the world was this Yen Sid person?

"You must be Leia's older brother."

Eraqus looked up. The stranger, who was previously conversing with the nurse, was looking straight at him.

Accepting the glass of water from Leia's hand, Eraqus replied, studying the stranger carefully. "Oldest brother. You must be Yen Sid."

Yen Sid was an elderly man and he fit the perfect description of what a child would say 'Merlin, the wise wizard'. His stern face was quite intimidating and even unwelcoming at times. However, there was an air of wisdom and kindness around him. This man was radiating with power, the very same unexplainable power that weird weapon held in his dream.

"That is right, Eraqus." Yen Sid replied. "Your sister, Leia, had told me everything about you."

Eraqus shot Leia a warning look. The last time Leia had confided in a stranger, he had to rescue his sister from what seemed like a near rape situation.

"She insisted." Yen Sid explained calmly. "The doctors have also agreed that once you are well enough to walk, you are free to return home. However, there is something I want you to consider."

"If I'll ever end up here again?" Eraqus couldn't keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "Well once I find a way to put that sorry jackass I have to call father, in his place, then maybe yes, I'll probably have lesser near death experiences."

Leia nudged Eraqus' injured ribs sharply.

"Ow!"

"Be nice!"

"So that you can get raped again?"

"I-"

"My time here is running short and there are other matters I must tend to back home." Yen Sid stood up. "My student will brief you on what I have to offer."

"Student?" Eraqus was puzzled. Was this man some sort of teacher?

"I do hope that Xehanort will clear any doubts you have. I cannot force you if you do not wish to leave home." Yen Sid said. "But consider it a chance…..to 'put your father' in his place."

With that, the elderly man left the room. Shortly after his departure, a young boy around Eraqus' age entered the room.

Xehanort, he presumed.

"Xehanort!" Leia excitedly waved.

The silver haired, tanned skinned boy nodded politely. The way the young man moved suggested aristocracy.

"Leia." Xehanort acknowledged, standing beside her. "I see that your brother is awake."

"Yes, he is awake, so please do him a favor and stop talking as if he's not." Eraqus replied sarcastically.

Xehanort didn't seem one bit phased by Eraqus' behavior. Understanding shone in his eyes. The silver haired boy patiently waiting until Eraqus calmed down.

"Alright, so what's this program all about?" Eraqus questioned. "Is this Yen Sid guy some sort of private tutor or something?"

Xehanort took a deep breath. "You can say that."

The silver haired boy took a seat facing the bed.

"What does he teach? Is he from some school, far away?"

Instead of a reply, Xehanort shot him a question. "What did you see when you were dangling in between life and death?"

Eraqus was taken back. How did Xehanort knew?

Leia looked at her own hands.

"I have never been in a near death experience." Xehanort admitted. "But when I left Destiny Island one day, to see the world against my guardian's will…"

The boy hesitated, wondering how to put it across to Eraqus in a way that does not confuse him.

"Let's just say that at the back of my mind, I realized that I wasn't alone in my quest to fulfill my goal of exploring the world." Xehanort said. "Did you by any chance, saw the keyblade?"

"Key…blade…?"

Looking around, as if to make sure that no one was around to look, Xehanort nodded. "It's a weapon, looks like an oversized key, you know?"

"Do you have one?" Eraqus asked.

"Of course." Xehanort replied proudly. "You probably have one too."

"How do you know?" Leia asked. "Do I have one as well?"

Xehanort shrugged. "Master Yen Sid would know. Don't ask me. I'm just his student."

"So, where's yours?" Eraqus looked at the boy.

Xehanort held his right hand out, calling fourth the weapon from his hammerspace. Ribbons of light curled around his hand the weapon materialized. Xehanort's weapon didn't look like a key at first glance, the design it bore gave Eraqus the impression that it was crafted out of black lace and the very night sky itself.

Leia stared at the weapon, her chocolate brown eyes wide as dinner plates. "That is so amazing…!"

"Shh." Xehanort allowed the weapon to rest back in his hammerspace. "Not many people is to know of our secret."

"So this is some kind of top secret weapon?" Leia tipped her head.

"Yes, in a way." Xehanort explained patiently. "Let's start from the menu."

Eraqus already knew that this was going to be one complicated story and a major turning point in his life.

"The Keyblade chooses its owner, not the other way around." Xehanort started. "Not everyone can wield a Keyblade."

Eraqus nodded, to show that he was following the other boy so far.

"Everyone who has been chosen by a Keyblade is supposedly of pure light." Xehanort went on. "But there are Keyblade wielders who are of pure darkness."

"So in short, everyone starts out as the good guys." Leia summarized. "It is only later on did they choose to be the bad guys?"

"If they do become corrupted, the Keyblade…won't leave them?" Eraqus asked.

"When a Keyblade chooses you, it stays with you forever." Xehanort replied. "It binds with your heart, your soul; it becomes a part of you."

"A part of me?" Eraqus didn't like the sound of this one bit. "So it's a parasite."

"In a way, yes." Xehanort said. "Just don't say that to Master Yen Sid, he'll flip."

Eraqus sank back against the bed. "Ok fine, it's a friend that refuses to leave you for life. I get it. So you think that I can wield this oversized key?"

"You were chosen." The other boy simply replied. "And you need to be trained to wield this weapon."

The two siblings exchanged looks before Xehanort continued.

"Master Yen Sid wishes to take you in as students."

"If this is some sort of private institution, I don't think we can afford it."

Leia clung onto her brother's arm, not wanting to be left alone in a house with an abusive father and a mother who still believed that her husband was attempting to assist them.

"If it's money you're worried about, you'll be pleased to know that there are no fees involved in this whole 'suspicious grand scheme'." Xehanort was already entertaining the thoughts of having another fellow student living in with him. "Master Yen Sid will pay for your upkeep and if you want, you can bring your sister with you."

Leia looked up at the silver haired boy. "You mean I can come along as well?"

"You have potential." Xehanort replied. "Furthermore, I don't think Master Yen Sid will ever convince you to move if he said no to Leia."

Before Eraqus could even ask what the catch was, Xehanort placed a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "I know, you must be thinking what the catch is. There is no catch."

"Forgive me if I find that extremely hard to believe." Eraqus' was half wandering if this was a part of his dream. Maybe his father had smashed his head against that wine cabinet a tad bit too hard.

Xehanort leaned forward. He wore a look which clearly suggested that Eraqus wasn't the first guy whom he had to convince.

"Let's put it this way, dude." Xehanort was clearly winning the game of mental chess. "I've seen your house and I was there when Master Yen Sid had to converse with your parents."

Eraqus turned a few shades paler at that moment.

"Your dad tried to smash Master Yen Sid's face with a beer bottle."

Oh that was typical. Eraqus coined the move as 'Daddy's trademark welcome.'

"I'm surprised he didn't bring his shotgun out." Eraqus remarked dryly. "Let me guess, my parents strongly disapproved."

"What do you think?" Xehanort eyed the clock on the wall. "The thing is; this is your decision. Your parents aren't going to understand and frankly speaking, I doubt they even care."

With that, Xehanort stood up and adjusted his brown vest, which he wore over a white sleeveless top. He looked like any street kid with his simple outfit.

"Think about it, Eraqus." Xehanort said as he headed towards the door. "Would you rather master the unexplainable source of power within you or stay here and become just another body who'll occupy one of those tombstones?"

"And if I were to master this unexplainable source of power?" Eraqus watched the silver haired boy. "How will that benefit me?"

Xehanort paused, one hand on the doorknob.

"You'll be a Keyblade Master if you're good enough. In turn, you will take in students, the chosen ones and they will train under you." Xehanort replied. "It's not about you. Being a Keyblade Wielder is all about changing the world. Think of it as a Princess. Beyond their mascara and pretty dresses, they wield power and with that power, they can either use it so that their people can flourish happily or die a miserable slave."

Xehanort spared Eraqus a glance over his shoulder. "Would you rather use that power so that your mother and your sister could have a better life? Life without that abusive asshole you call father? Or would you just let nature take its course? If I were you, I'd grab the first option immediately."

Leia stood up. "Wait! Where can we find you, Xehanort?"

Xehanort kindly smiled at the girl. "Denrale Avenue, it's a 4 minute walk from this town's elementary school. There is a hotel allocated right around the corner there."

"You're currently staying there with your Master?" Leia asked, already taking a liking to the older boy.

"My Master has done all there is, attempting to convince your parents and all that." Xehanort said. "He has other tasks to tend to, his time is quite limited. I have volunteered to stay behind for a week or two, for your sake. Do inform me of your decision."

With that, Xehanort left the room, leaving the siblings to themselves.

Leia was the first one to break the silence with her excited yammering.

"Eraqus! Accept it!" Leia grabbed onto her brother's arm again. "We can finally be free of dad!"

Eraqus pondered, looking out the window. Leia would be coming along with him and that would deny the young girl of any chance of a normal teenage hood. Furthermore, if they were to accept Master Yen Sid's offer, they would be far away from home.

A part of Eraqus told him that it was fine; it wasn't as if home held any special memories for him. His childhood was always filled with memories of violence, gunshots and blood. If there was one word he could use describe his childhood, pain was that very word.

"Leia, if we go, we won't be able to see home for a very long time." He explained, trying to put it across the young girl's head that this wasn't some kind of decision one could make overnight and yet, they were doing it anyways.

But Leia wasn't that dumb. Having grown up in a violent neighbourhood due to their financial state and having to endure an abusive father had granted her with the ability to see everything in plain black and white, unlike other kids of her age.

"Xehanort had already said it and I agree with him!" Leia hoisted herself up onto the stiff hospital mattress. "What else do we have to lose?"

"Mother." Eraqus replied. "That's the only thing that worries me."

He didn't mind leaving the shit hole he grew up in but he could already foresee what would happen to their timid, delusional mother.

"Can mother survive without us?" Eraqus placed a hand to his head, trying to fight the incoming bouts of migraine.

Leia looked at her brother. "Mother could've done so many things. She could've divorced father. She could've reported all the beatings and abuse to the rightful authorities. She could've denied him a place in her own house."

Eraqus looked at his sister through a veil of messy, shoulder length black hair.

"My point is; mother didn't." Leia continued. "Mother is in need of guidance. I believe that if you become a Keyblade Master, you could set things right and at the same time, you could be making the world a better place, right?"

When her brother didn't reply, Leia went on. "Both of us are in no position to help mother if we won't even take the first step. Master Yen Sid is someone who is really willing to help us. I can feel it."

Eraqus shut his eyes. "You might just be right this time round, Leia."

**xXx**

The stitches were removed a week later. It wasn't an entirely new experience for Eraqus but it wasn't one bit pleasant, least to say. Xehanort was present, keeping Leia company outside the room while the nurses removed the stitches on her brother.

"A good friend of mine." Eraqus had explained to their mother when she came across Leia seated beside Xehanort.

Their mother gave Xehanort a very rare glimpse of her anger. She had seen Master Yen Sid entering their house and she knew that this was the student of that old man.

She also knew that Xehanort was here to whisk her children away.

The silver haired boy returned the glare with a very calm, neutral look.

"You're not taking my children away." She said.

"He's not." Eraqus replied, walking up to his mother. "Your children made their own decision and it's final."

Leia grabbed onto the edge of Xehanort's white T-shirt.

"Eraqus, you don't even know if this boy and his mentor are scheming illusionists!" his mother cried.

Eraqus grabbed onto his mother's arm. "I'm willing to make that gamble. I'm sorry but I'm done with father. You can preach to me and Leia about what good he is but I'm not going to let another situation like Tabitha's, happen again."

With that, he gestured towards Xehanort and Leia. "Let's go."

Their mother followed them back home. The moment they opened the door, they were greeted with the usual sight of an empty, trashed up house. The air reeked of ill and alcohol and the sibling's father was no where in sight.

"Just take what you need." Xehanort instructed. "Everything's going to be provided for over at the Land of Departure."

Leia was the first one to sprint upstairs to her room. Much to her older brother's surprise, she left her hand me down toys behind, insisting that she didn't need it, that she was already grown up.

Eraqus only took a change of clothes. There was nothing in this house worth taking. Besides, he told himself that it won't be permanent. He would return here someday and when he did, he would make his mother see that the man she loves was just using her for what little money she had.

Truth was, Eraqus had no idea why in the world did their mother refused to abandon that bastard.

That was plain fine with him, if his mother wouldn't see the error of her ways; he will just have to make her see it, one day.

A comfortable weight rested at the back of his mind. It was watching him, hearing his thoughts. Eraqus knew it was the effect of the parasitic weapon, residing in the depths of his mind.

Shouldering his bag, he headed downstairs where his mother was waiting, with Leia and Xehanort not too far from her.

Eraqus couldn't bear to look at his mother as he headed for the door, with his sister trailing behind him.

"I'll write." Eraqus promised, already feeling a pool of regret well up within him, the moment he heard the woman sob. "I hope that when I do return to this town, with Leia.."

His mother grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him into her embrace. There were no words left between the two of them anymore.

**xXx**

It was like a scene, straight out a medieval movie.

The smell of morning dew, fresh upon the green grass, filled the troop's nose. The mountainous region of the Eldorado plains was a beautiful sight to see, with lush greeneries as far as any eye could see. The sound of birds chirping filled the air and there was not a single cloud in the sky.

It was paradise.

It should be, after all, it housed a gateway to the world's most wanted wishing well – Kingdom Hearts.

"It shouldn't have to be this way." Master Yen Sid's voice rang in Eraqus' head from time to time.

His master was strongly against this whole entire war of course. Eraqus had been in a couple of arguments with his master about the upcoming war. Yen Sid had made many attempts to change his young student's mind about joining the war. They had all ended in vain and Yen Sid had foreseen that happening, Eraqus carried a will of steel.

"The only reason why I'm doing this is because of Xehanort." Eraqus had told Yen Sid. "He's been blinded by Darkness."

"If you truly hope that you can persuade Xehanort to see the error of his ways, then you must be a fool." Yen Sid replied in return, interlacing his fingers together.

"Then I will die as a fool, a friend and a Warrior of Light." Eraqus looked up at his master. "I will return with Xehanort, not as a prisoner or corpse, but as a friend who had seen the error of his ways."

There was no other way left.

"If Eraqus goes, I will go with him." Leia announced, determination clearly etched upon her fair features.

Eraqus knew that he couldn't turn back the moment he set foot out of the Land of Departure with his sister, who had insisted that she accompanied her brother, who was pretty much, the only blood family Eraqus had left, ever since he fled from home many years ago. His mother, as he had foreseen, didn't last long in that wretched neighbourhood.

His letters that he had wrote to his mother, bounced back to him with a note saying that such person no longer exists at that aforementioned address. Curiosity got the best of him and he had run away from the Land of Departure one night, to return home.

A new owner had occupied the house. He had returned home to find that his father had shot his mother on the very same day he and Leia had left for the Land of Departure. Following which, his father had committed suicide, using the very same gun he had used to kill his own wife.

Xehanort was there for him when he needed a shoulder to cry on.

The other youth was literally like an older brother to him and Leia.

And now, Xehanort had left Master Yen Sid's humble abode, shortly after receiving his Mark of Mastery, to join a group of Keyblade Wielders who believed in an ancient prophecy of some sort.

They were the warriors of darkness, chosen people who had allowed their hearts to go astray and young, 19 year old Master Xehanort was now one of these people. The warriors of the Dark wanted to claim the power of Kingdom Hearts all to themselves. Every Keyblade Wielder knew of the tale of that divine forsaken Kingdom.

Eraqus didn't think that such power could exist and he found it useless to chase after something as superficial as a tale.

A war was well on its way and try hard as he could, Eraqus found that this was a war he could not avoid.

He wanted Leia out of the war. Leia was just starting to master wielding her own keyblade and the thought of having her march alongside other warriors of light in this crazy war, alarmed him greatly.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry." Leia had assured him and the Master. "I will be playing the role of the medic in the war; I won't really be on the battlefield."

Eraqus should've known that the warriors of darkness were people who couldn't really careless about the rules.

Leia was right beside him as they marched towards the steep plains. She was smiling at him and that very smile haunted him, as he was awarded the title of a Master for being one of the very few to survive the great Keyblade War.

- End


End file.
